CIGALA

Lambs Conduit Street harbours many gems. One of the lesser shining is the LA Fitness which I have avoided staunchly since a traumatic spin class two days after joining, now quite some time ago. As I crawled into my cab home I remembered how fondly and enthusiastically a friend had recommended a restaurant but steps away from the scene. I was determined that if my limbs were ever strong again, I would return to taste.

Tonight was the very night! As Jenny and I sheepishly passed our neglected gym/torture chamber, eyes averted, we anticipated a meal that would melt our guilt clean away.

No Such Luck. Cigala is a trendy tapas restaurant with a great wine list. Let me say, we loved our carafe - nothing house wine-y about that! The meal was a slightly different tale. It was perfectly acceptable and it is true to say we left merry and full but there was something amiss. It just wasn't particularly special, I suppose. There was nothing overwhelming, unusual or distinct about it - mainly we dreaded our bill. Our fellow diners seemed to be holding business meetings and I have no doubt that this would be a perfect venue for one. However, our search for sensory pleasure was left wanting (the hot waiter helped - a bit.) Having said that, the place was buzzing even as we left at 10.30pm so they must be doing something right. Perhaps we just made the wrong choices...

A rather salty Tortilla - and I love salt, so imagine!

Tomato on Toast(!)

Beetroot, orange, carrot and bean salad

 Tuna and anchovy salad

The highlight of the evening: Hake sandwiched between aubergines and deep fried

If you do go, say hi to the waiter from us! More me... Jenny wasn't that into him.

PANCAKES POSTPONED

I was cruelly cheated out of pancake day. Struck down in my prime by food poisoning (new London restaurant 'Burger and Lobster' to blame - a delicious meal going down the gullet, grim coming back up) and I have been unabashedly miserable about it.

I love pancake day! It's one of my favourites not least because of its blatant endorsement of gluttony and sloth. I remember the thrill of retrieving the sugar shaker from its shelf (when else does this happen?!) when I was little and my grandmother would fry us endless batches. So you can imagine my emotional state when they were simply not an option on Tuesday. I was sloth for all the wrong reasons. To make up for this devastation I have rescheduled my pancake day for next Wedensday - the traditional savoury pancake bake will be made and lemon and sugar shaker will finally be reunited none-the-wiser.

In the mean time I wanted to go a bit wild, still along the pancake batter route but something to stretch my food vocabulary - The Funnel Cake. These are north American deep-fried fairground treats dowsed in icing sugar and my God they are disgustingly good.

Funnel Cakes..next time I'd add some creme fraiche, fatten it up a bit!

Funnel Cake Recipe

Ingredients
200 ml milk
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
140 g plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted melted and cooled butter
Icing sugar, for topping
300ml oil for deep frying

How to do it...
In a deep saucepan heat about 300 ml of oil over a medium heat until a cube of bread will fry to be cooked and crisp in about 10 seconds. If it rises to the top cooked and crisp before then, then the oil is too hot, if it takes longer the oil is not hot enough.

While it is heating combine all the wet ingredients - milk, egg, vanilla and butter in one bowl, and all the dry ingredients - flour, salt, baking soda and sugar in another. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, whisking to incorporate as you go.

When everything is combined put the mixture into a piping bag and pipe in a circular motion over the hot oil. Cook for about a minute on each side and then remove it and place the funnel cake straight onto kitchen paper to absorb the excess grease. Dust indulgently with icing sugar and you can add fruits, melted chocolate, sauces or creams. Just go mad for it!

MAKE MINE A MOUSSAKA

I was stuck with a lot of minced beef last week - it sat in the fridge for a few days, staring at me with contempt. How to use it. "Not another lasagna!" we seemed to say to each other, "try something new!" the mince added, rather unkindly. So I fondled my cupboards and they graciously responded with a bag of raisins and some pistachio nuts. Pistachios, you may be interested to learn, are a nut my Persian father regularly fed my sister and I when we were wee - the connotations of this particular nut are endlessly nostalgic for me. A Middle Eastern jingle started to play in my head and with it I scurried to the supermarket, khombaks plinking, to make this dream a reality. I returned with some limes, coriander, yoghurt and aubergines and we were off - hurtling past Greece into the depths of the Middle East (whilst staying firmly put in Clerkenwell.)

I've never had Moussaka before (sorry!) but from what I've read it's pretty much a Greek lasagna - instead of beef, lamb and instead of pasta, aubergines with a bit of oregano and cinnamon. This was just not enough for me. No. The mince and I had other ideas. Last week's fish without chips had left me with a swelling spice drawer and I wanted to play! Looking back, the Greeks seem to have got it right - lamb instead of beef would have completed my heritage themed moussaka nicely, but the beef I used in the end worked charmingly.

Now to thank mother, fondly known as 'Bong'. Had she not told me about Evelyn Rose's moussaka earlier this week I doubt the idea would have even dared enter my small brain. So, thanks to both parents, a Jewish/Persian Moussaka has arrived on the scene and it's a good'un.

So Colourful: Middle Eastern Moussaka

Ingredients (this serves 6)

For the meat filling
600g minced beef/lamb
2 onions
4 large tomatoes, cut into quarters
A handful of pistachios
A handful of raisins
1 inch of ginger, grated
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 tsps caster sugar
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
Zest of half a lime
Tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp smoked paprika
 salt and pepper

For the aubergines
3 aubergines, sliced lengthways
1 big glug of olive oil

For the topping
6 tbsps of yoghurt
2 egg yolks
Juice of 1 lime
Zest of half a lime


How to...

...cook the beef/lamb
First Preheat the oven at 140°C. Rub the beef or lamb with smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
Brown in a hot pan in small batches to get a good, even colour. When the meat is browned, sprinkle with sumac. Set aside in it's own bowl.

Onions, Turmeric, Cinnamon, Tomatoes, Raisins, Pistachios, Coriander

...deal with the onions
Thinly slice the onions and fry them slowly in oil. If the pan dries, add a little bit of water. When they're looking nicely jellyfishy (transparent and squidgy), add the ginger, turmeric and cinnamon. Make sure the spices are nicely cooked out - undercooked spices is one of my worsts - it makes for a grim, gritty texture and who wants to eat raw spices?! Set aside the onions in a bowl.

...cook the tomatoes
Rinse out the pan and fry the tomatoes in the olive oil on a low heat. When the tomatoes start to lose their shape a little, add the garlic and shortly after a tsp of caster sugar. Add the lime zest. Again, if the pan gets dry, don't be afraid to add a little more water. Set aside with the onions.

..cook the raisins and pistachios
Rinse out the pan and fry the raisins and the pistachios with a tsp of sugar. When the pistachios start to brown, put the mixture in the bowl with the tomatoes and onions.

...deal with the aubergines and combine
At this stage, combine all the ingredients in a bowl (browned meat and vegetables) with the coriander.
Next, fry the aubergines until they are well browned. Place them on kitchen towel and sprinkle them with sea salt.
In an ovenproof serving dish, layer the meat and aubergine starting and finishing with the meat mixture and place it in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Once cooked, allow to cool.

Layers of spiced meat and aubergine...just one more meat layer to go!

For the topping:
Mix together all the ingredients and when the moussaka is cool, add the topping. Now cook for another 25 minutes. So nice and yellow from the yolks!

Middle Eastern Moussaka

Salaam my new favourite 'bake'.

FISH DIVORCES CHIPS.

Fish and chips with mushy peas. Winston Churchill knew the score - "the good companions" he called them. But how did such a combination, the Romeo and Juliet star-crossed lovers of our national palette come to be? When did fish meet chips? Allow me to reveal my discoveries. The first official chippy in London was opened by Jewish immigrant Joseph Malin in 1860. One version of the story suggests that Scotland's chip shops began spreading south whilst England's fried-fish shops spread north only to meet in the middle in a rapturous embrace. Sluts.

One reason I won't be making fish and chips is not because I don't think they're fantastic but because nothing can compare to the True Chippy Experience. There's just no competition.

Another reason is that unfortunately for F+C (as my mother signs our Christmas presents, yes, she is a lunatic) people are on the look-out for healthier food at every corner these days. Even McDonald's has adopted a nutrition calculator, started serving five varieties of the same salad and has started writing on their website about 'understanding nutrition'. Please don't misunderstand, I am a major fan of McDonald's but I don't go there for the salad. This 'health kick' is a food trend that's here to stay, and sometimes I have to find a way to join in. Hallelujah, thus was born this recipe for fish without chips.

There are loads of different taste sensations going on here. The tomato chutney's Indian vibe kick starts it all whilst minty couscous provides refreshing zing factor. Thankfully our fishy familiarity with mushy peas remains firmly in tact but this is an amazingly tasty, healthy and colourful take on the trad F+C. Sorry chips!

Fish without Chips

Ingredients Lists

For the fish:
2 Sea bass fillets
Cornflour
Zest of 1/2 a lime
Turmeric
Garam masala
3 big glugs of vegetable oil, or enough to cover the pan


For the cucumber salad:
Half a cucumber, chopped into cubes
Half a red onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, chopped


For the dressing, combine:
Juice of half a lime
2 cm of fresh ginger, grated
Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

For the couscous:
Couscous
2 big handfuls of mint leaves
Head of broccoli
1 garlic clove
A punch (more than a pinch) of salt


For the tomato chutney:
4 tomatoes
1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 green chili, chopped
A handful of coriander, roughly chopped
Tsp caster sugar
Salt and pepper to taste


For the mushy peas:
5 tbsp garden peas
2 tbsp double cream
1 tbsp butter
1Tsp cumin


How to...

...make the chutney:
Grill the tomatoes. When they are black on the top, take them out and wait for them to cool. Cooked tomatoes are akin to the fires of Mordor when they first come out of the oven so when they are cool enough to touch, roughly chop them combine them with all the other chutney ingredients in a large bowl. Taste and season accordingly.


...make the cucumber salad:
Combine all of the chopped vegetables and cover in the dressing.

...make the couscous:
Trim any woody ends or tough leaves off the broccoli with a knife. Divide into small, individual florets and boil for 1 minute or until al dente. Place the mint, garlic and broccoli in a magi-mix/food processor and whizz in short spurts so that you can control how small it becomes - you don't want it to become a puree.
In a bowl cover the couscous with boiled water and wait for it to absorb all of the water before breaking up the grains with a fork. Run the mint and broccoli bits through the couscous.


...make the mushy peas:
Boil the peas for one minute. In another pan gently melt the butter, cumin and blanched peas. Cook on a low heat for two minutes. Add the cream and bring to the boil. Mash peas (but only a little bit!)


...make the fish:
Heat the pan of oil until very hot. Meanwhile, combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and cover the fillets with the batter. Fry them in hot pan, 2 minutes on each side. When cooked, place first on kitchen paper to absorb any excess grease and then sprinkle with salt.


...assemble:
Arrange salad and couscous on a plate with the tomato chutney. Place the fish on top and garnish with the mushy peas. YUM.

CHOCOLATE COATED SALTED BUTTER CARAMELS. SWEETS FOR MY SWEET.

First, a note from the editor. 
A love for sweetened chewiness has long possessed my heart -

From early childhood years ago my passions thus did start.

From rubber teat to playtime sweet or sugar candied strips,

'twas rare that dribble wouldn't glisten hanging from my lips.

Dentists since have told me that my teeth have turned quite rotten

And doctors speak of 'gaining girth' but this I have forgotten.

For when sweet salted caramel is placed in reaching grasp,

In my sweet salted sweaty hands those brown gems I must clasp

And relish in their morishness and feel my heartbeat quicken 

As I indulge euphorically and feel my buttocks thicken.

Jenny Lewisohn

Yes, it's true. We're all in love in this house. Madly, desperately and passionately in love. In fact it's possibly more of an unhealthy obsession than love. It happened about a week ago when I brought home some of Bea's of Bloomsbury's chocolate salted butter caramels. It was a horrendous moment when I went to pay for them - £1 a chocolate, and a minimum of twelve chocolates. CHRIST! But, my feelings mellowed the instant I'd put one in my mouth. I was simply powerless to resist, destined for an ever-expanding waistline and rotted teeth, confidently culminating in bankruptcy. Unfortunately for me, they are everything I could want all in one place, the three ingredients I cannot live without: my holy trinity, my triple threat, my snap, crackle and pop: Butter, Salt and Sugar. They're all here and in such abundance with some cream thrown in! HOORAY! The total sum of these ingredients is a chewy but creamy, salty but sweet, chocolatey but caramelly..... Wow. My mouth is filling with saliva at the thought.

This house is not the first to fall for these luxurious treats and I doubt we'll be the last. It seems that the salted caramel first appeared on the scene in '70s Brittany, a region famed for it's salted butter. By the '90s Pierre Hermé had transformed these sweets into salted caramel macaroons and you can see it is in all sorts of forms these days, from salted caramel ice cream to M&S's best selling salted caramel profiteroles.

Here is the recipe for the chocolate coated salted buttered caramels. What a mouthful. And what a mouth full! You must measure carefully and should really have a sugar thermometer. I don't have a thermometer, so I had a guess at when to turn the heat on and off, which happily worked out fine.

Ingredients
180ml double cream

3/4 tbsp of flaky sea salt (Maldon)

160g golden syrup/corn syrup

200g caster sugar

4 tbsp salted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

A large bar of dark chocolate

Do It!

Prepare a cake tin with lightly greased foil. 

Boil together the cream, vanilla and 2 tbsp of butter and 1/2 tbsp of salt. Once the pan has boiled, switch it off but keep it warm by keeping it on the hob.

Then, bring the sugar and golden syrup to the boil until it reaches 310°C. Add the other 2 tbsp of butter and turn the sugar off. 

Now, pour in the cream mixture. Turn the heat on again and boil to 270°C. 

Pour the mixture into the prepped cake tin and leave it to cool for 10 minutes before sprinkling the rest of the salt over the top. 

Wait another 15 minutes before you cut the sweets using a sharp knife. 

Melt the dark chocolate over a pan of boiled water and cover the caramels. 

Leave the chocolates to cool in the fridge. 

Try not to eat them all.

NOPI (Named so as it is North of Picadilly) 

Having attended a demonstration by Ottolenghi himself during my training, I must admit his food was delicious and he appeared a confident and modest man. He spoke easily about his failures as well as his success and is clearly devoted to what he does. His food is carefully and simply crafted and is all the better for it. Still, shortly after his demonstration I wandered into the Islington branch of 'Ottolenghi' and while the food is presented beautifully, it is unbelievably busy: heaving with yummy mummies and their offspring. The noise combined with the confined space and the queue prompted a swift exit before trying or buying any of the food. I confess I am not the most patient of souls.

So you can imagine my mixed emotions when I was told we would be dining at 'Nopi', Ottolenghi's newer restaurant last Friday night. Images of a claustrophobic, noisy restaurant where it might be impossible to get anyone's attention unless you had the booming voice of an army sergeant vexed me, and my fears were only reinforced in the knowledge that we were to be sitting at the bar.

I was very relieved then when we were taken through the buzzing but not overcrowded restaurant and were attended to the instant we took our seats.  The sparkling white room sparsely punctuated with gold, notably makes a perfect canvas for the bold and colourful food that Ottolenghi is famous for.

The menu is simply set out under the headings VEG, FISH, MEAT and SWEETS. There is something very familiar about it all, and I realised after reading the menu this is the same as Ottolenghi's cafes - it's the same food, just served without the buffet. The food was uncompromisingly delicious, beautifully presented and thanks to this, painful to share (it's recommended that you share, choosing three savoury dishes each). As a less wealthy party of three we chose a total of six savoury dishes, a cocktail each, and waited to see if we wanted dessert.

The cocktails came and we made a game of describing them to each other. Mine, 'Hendricks Punch', was definitely reminiscent of Pimm's whilst Yuko's 'Pineapple and Sage Martini' was my favourite - tropical with a grounding sage leaf. Edward's was too strong for me to taste, but he claimed it was the perfect thing to drink after a bottle of brandy, which happily he'd consumed just before.

First the Valdeon cheesecake. Certainly a rich place to start, and an inspiring slant on the dessert. This was a winner and very pretty in it's copper pan. I do love a shiny copper pan!

Seared prawns, tomato butter, fennel , olives and Pernod. Yum. Sauce was for me the triumph of the evening.

Baby octopus was tasty but soon forgotten when presented with these juicy scallops. Delicately cooked and presented.

The lamb cannon with green chilli sauce was impressively cooked to perfection, and the flavours cleverly matched.

The Ox tongue was voted favourite of the evening, tender with a nice kick from the horseradish, and tart sweetness from the pickled cherries.

At this stage of the meal came the big question: SWEETS? I was definitely inclined toward the 'Caramel and Roasted Peanut Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce' but felt unhappy about spending £7.50 on ice cream. My concerns were sadly only magnified when I confided to the waiter what I fancied to eat, and he chirpily responded 'if you like Snickers, you'll love it'. Good point. The fact that they were selling me a deconstructed snickers ice cream at more than three times the price was more than a little unnerving and convinced us that another cocktail was the best way to end the meal.

I had a really lovely time at Nopi, the food was delicious, the service friendly and the company I was in made for a memorable evening. However, be prepared for it to set you back a few bob, it's very expensive for what it is. Of course, their cleverly attracted target audience remain as devoted as ever and their relationship will surely continue to thrive. If you know and love the Ottolenghi brand, I'm sure Nopi will only convince you further.


Thank you to Yuko Sugimoto for her photography and her choice of restaurant!

 http://www.nopi-restaurant.com/
21-22 Warwick Street  Lon, Greater London W1B 5NE

020 7494 9584

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

I'm obsessed by my local butchers shop, McKanna Meats. It's the real thing - all kinds of animals hanging from the ceiling, lines outside every morning and it's a genuine thrill just going in there. In fact I've walked most of my friends up the road to visit. It's not just the atmosphere and the fact that everyone working there is so friendly: the meat is reliably amazing, good value and they really know what they're talking about. 

One of my favourite things amongst the goodies are their chorizo sausages. I've not found any like these anywhere, apart from Brindisa who sell a pack of five 'dulce chorizo' online for £18.95!!! McKanna's are equally sweet, not stuffed with peppers like the supermarket variety and not particularly spicy. Personally, I don't love the food I buy to come spiced, I'd rather create the 'heat' level myself, so aside from anything else, these are a flexible choice.

I'm always looking for an excuse to buy these delicious sausages and when one of the butchers told me about a dish he'd recently made with the chorizo, black pudding and pancetta (which I also find unbelievably exciting - it comes in a block!!) I was determined to give it a go myself. It has evolved a bit since the first time I made it, simply because it's easier to serve it this way.

This is a rich and meaty dish. I'd serve it with a rocket salad with olives and sundried tomatoes, or some new potatoes with a simple nob of butter. Or both!

Ravaged Chicken

Ingredients
1 chicken, de-boned. If you're scared about boning it yourself, ask your butcher to.
4 chorizo sausages, cut into 1 inch chunks
100g Spanish black pudding, crumbled into large-ish chunks
100g Pancetta, chopped into 1 inch chunks
2 shallots, sliced
A nob of butter
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
A handful of mixed wild mushrooms
A handful of sage
A sprig of rosemary
Zest of half a lemon
A glug of olive oil
Salt and black pepper to season
2 skewers

Oven On
Preheat your oven to 170°C on the fan setting.


Prepare the Stuffing
For the stuffing, fry the pancetta in a very lightly oiled pan on a high heat. It's very fatty, so the oil is just there to help render down the fat. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside. With the fat left in the pan, fry the sage until it's crispy but not discoloured and add this to the bowl. Continuing in the same way, fry the chorizo and then the black pudding.
Clean the pan and sweat the shallots with some of the butter on a low heat. Add this to the bowl.
Add the rest of the butter to the pan with the mushrooms, sprig of rosemary and the garlic. Once the mushrooms have changed colour and absorbed the butter, add it all to the bowl.


Assemble
Now, lay the de-boned chicken skin-side down on a clean chopping board and cover with stuffing, spooning it on until about two thirds is covered. Start rolling it, starting from the stuffed end, as tightly as you can and secure with two skewers.
Place the stuffed bird on a roasting tin and pour over the olive oil, lemon zest and season with salt and plenty of pepper. Cook at 170°C fan for an hour and slice it at the table.
 

DEVILLED LIVERS

People can be very squeamish about liver. Hopefully if you try this recipe you will be convinced to liver little.

'What the hell is devilling?'  First seen in eighteeth-century cookery books, it means to cook in a fiery hot sauce...something to do with the devil and the heat in hell.

These are anything but hellish, nor are they particularly spicy, simply because I prefer the sweet to the spicy on this one. However you can change that by adding cayenne pepper if you'd like. For me this is a fatty and naughty favourite.

I first had it as a starter in a restaurant in Cardiff. It was rich and creamy and to be honest a little bit orgasmic. A memorable taste! Having said that, I'd rather serve it among some other little dishes; a meal for sharing, more a tapas-like affair than a starter. Watch out though, while they're rich they're also very moreish.

Ingredients
150g chicken livers, sinew removed
Half an onion thinly sliced
2 nobs of butter
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Tbsp whole grain mustard
Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsps double cream
1 Tbsps madiera
A pinch of smoked paprika
A pinch of cayenne pepper (optional, add at the same time as the paprika)
Brioche, thickly sliced
A handful of chopped parsley
Salt and Black pepper to season 

To the hob
Soften the onions in the butter on a low heat. Once they have become transparent and squidgy turn the heat up and add the madiera and the sugar and smoked paprika, until the onions have become nice and sticky. Set the onions aside and brown the livers for about a minute on each side. Return the onions to the pan and add the garlic, the mustard and the double cream. Boil for 1 minute and set aside. Add a pinch of salt and some black pepper to season.

Fry the brioche in the butter til lightly browned and crisp on both sides. Top the brioche with the onion and liver mix and grill it until a caramelised colour appears on the livers.

Serve
Serve immediately with some chopped parsley to garnish

FISH GIVES YOU BRAINS


I ate this about a year ago at St John's Bread and Wine in Spitalfields, which I have to say is not as fancy as it's big sister in Clerkenwell, but the food, I'm convinced, is better. I first came here with my two cheffy friends Ben and Rupert just after we'd finished our training. It will always hold fond memories for me recalling the husband vs. wife style spat that arose after one of the boys booked a table there while the other desperately insisted that all he'd ever wanted was a greasy burger. Cries of "but I did this for us!" promptly ensued by the table-booker. None-the-less, upon arrival we were all very pleased with our food and this has been a firm favourite ever since.


I love everything about the simple but well considered combination of flavours in this recipe. Making pesto is one of my favourites. I have to admit I am not a fan of measuring - I haven't the patience, and making pesto is a personal affair - you can make it how you want. Some recipes leave out the garlic altogether some use Romano cheese instead of Parmesan or Pecorino, and the taste can completely change depending on exactly which oil or cheese, or how toasted your pine nuts are or indeed whether you even use pine nuts at all. However you like it you can make it just the way you want - just have a play. I always feel very satisfied and even a little smug when it's made.

Mackerel can be cooked lots of ways - BBQ, grill or roast - it generally enjoys a more abrasive approach than milder fish. It has a melting, tender texture as well as a bold taste and this power-off between pesto, fish and zesty tomatoes is a simple treat.

Simple and Effective Mackerel

Ingredients

Mackerel, gutted
Maldon Salt
Olive oil


Vine tomatoes
Crushed garlic
Lemon zest
Olive oil
Maldon salt




For the Pesto
2 handfuls of basil leaves
1 clove of garlic
A handful of lightly toasted pine nuts
Extra Virgin Olive oil
A handful of grated Parmesan cheese
A squeeze of lemon juice
A pinch of salt
Black pepper, to taste


Lemon slices to serve


Oven on

Turn the oven to 200 C

Make the Pesto

While the oven heats up make your pesto. You can make pesto with either a pestle and mortar (more time consuming, but gives a different flavour) or in a magimix, which I admit I'm lazy enough to prefer and it still tastes good. For either version, start with a pinch of salt and some garlic, crush/whizz them together. Crushing/whizzing as you go, add torn basil leaves, followed by pine nuts, and the Parmesan (you could use pecorino - creamier or Romano - saltier), and then add the olive oil - just enough to bring the sauce together and lemon juice, tasting throughout to see what you think it needs. Season with salt and pepper to taste


Prepare the Tomatoes
For the tomatoes you should keep them on the vine and add the crushed garlic, salt and lemon zest then pour on a little olive oil and gently rub the tomatoes, making sure they're all nicely covered.

Sort out the Fish

Now prepare the fish. Place the Mackerel on some foil and pour a good glug of olive oil and a large pinch of salt over it. Cook in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes, turning once.


Serve 
To serve simply pour your pesto over the cooked fish and plate up the tomatoes and lemon slices.